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In which are explained The causes of that which occurs In REFLEXION& in REFRACTION; And particularly In the strange REFRACTION OF ICELAND CRYSTAL;Rendered into English by SILVANUS P. THOMPSON ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A delightful account from one of the Pioneers in Optics
Treatise of Light by Christian Huygens was published in 1690. The questions about the nature of light, how fast it travels, why it travels at all, and of course the phenomenon of reflection, refraction, birefringence are addressed using geometrical optics. These questions were quite current and poorly understood back then. While the book appears to be just a delightful exercise in geometry, it contains proofs and discussions relevant to ray optics that are used to the day. The book also shows how astute Huygens was as a scientist and as an experimentalist. No wonder his work has survived the test of time, and continues to be relevant to the day. Even though the book contains many ideas that have been discarded in face of modern knowledge, the perspective obtained by reading through Huygens arguments, makes it to worthwhile read. ... Read more

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This case study examines the interrelationship between mathematics and physics in the work of one of the major figures of the Scientific Revolution, the Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695).Professor Yoder offers a detailed account of the discoveries that Huygens made at the end of 1659, including the invention of a pendulum clock that theoretically kept absolutely uniform time, and the creation of a mathematical theory of evolutes.She also describes the way that each of these important discoveries arose from the interaction of Huygens' mathematics and physics.A discussion of Huygens' relationship with other scientists and the priority disputes that sometimes motivated his research help place his work in the context of the period. The reception of Huygens' masterpiece, the Horologium Oscillatorium of 1673 and the place of evolutes in the history of mathematics are also analyzed.Finally, the role of Huygens in the rise of applied mathematics is addressed. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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In 1690, Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) published Traité de la Lumière, containing his renowned wave theory of light. It is considered a landmark in seventeenth-century science, for the way Huygens mathematized the corpuscular nature of light and his probabilistic conception of natural knowledge. This book discusses the development of Huygens' wave theory, reconstructing the winding road that eventually led to Traité de la Lumière. For the first time, the full range of manuscript sources is taken into account. In addition, the development of Huygens' thinking on the nature of light is put in the context of his optics as a whole, which was dominated by his lifelong pursuit of theoretical and practical dioptrics. In so doing, this book offers the first account of the development of Huygens' mathematical analysis of lenses and telescopes and its significance for the origin of the wave theory of light. As Huygens applied his mathematical proficiency to practical issues pertaining to telescopes – including trying to design a perfect telescope by means of mathematical theory – his dioptrics is significant for our understanding of seventeenth-century relations between theory and practice. With this full account of Huygens' optics, this book sheds new light on the history of seventeenth-century optics and the rise of the new mathematical sciences, as well as Huygens' oeuvre as a whole. Students of the history of optics, of early mathematical physics, and the Scientific Revolution, will find this book enlightening.

Customer Reviews (1)

Huygens was an amazing guy
Like many serious studies of history, this book is not always an easy read.But stick with it, because the insight it gives into the person of Christiaan Huygens and the science of the seventeenth century is just amazing.Well worth a read if you've been bitten by the history of science bug as I have.It's just amazing how with relatively primitive tools and immature scientific concepts these guys were able to figure out and accomplish so much; all the more so when you read about some of the practical difficulties of things like gettings lenses made right to test your theories.But they got it done.This book gets into their heads and the details of their context like none other that I've read. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Dutch Music Theorists, Christiaan Huygens, Yuri Landman, Rutgerus Sycamber, Adriaan Fokker, Hucbald, Nicolaï Van Gilse Van Der Pals, Anthony Van Hoboken, Albert Clement. Excerpt: Christiaan Huygens, FRS (English pronunciation: , Dutch: ; 14 April 1629 8 July 1695) was a prominent Dutch mathematician, astronomer, physicist, horologist, and writer of early science fiction. His work included early telescopic studies elucidating the nature of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan, the invention of the pendulum clock and other investigations in timekeeping, and studies of both optics and the centrifugal force. Huygens achieved note for his argument that light consists of waves, now known as the HuygensFresnel principle, which became instrumental in the understanding of wave-particle duality. He generally receives credit for his discovery of the centrifugal force, the laws for collision of bodies, for his role in the development of modern calculus and his original observations on sound perception (see repetition pitch). Huygens is seen as the first theoretical physicist as he was the first to use formulae in physics. Christiaan Huygens by Bernard Vaillant, Museum Hofwijck, Voorburg Christiaan Huygens. Cut from the engraving following the painting of Caspar Netscher by G. Edelinck, between 1684 and 1687. Spring driven pendulum clock, designed by Huygens, built by instrument maker Salomon Coster (1657), and manuscript Horologium Oscillatorium , Museum Boerhaave, Leiden Huygens' telescope without tube. Picture from his 1684 Astroscopia Compendiaria tubi optici molimine liberata (compound telescopes without a tube) Huygens' explanation for the aspects of Saturn, Systema Saturnium, 1659.Christiaan Huygens was born in April 1629 at The ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=42127 ... Read more

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Vintage Reprint
This is a reprint of the Silvanus P. Thompson English translation of 1912 with the original illustrations.

"This is the book for which Galileo was imprisoned by the Inquisition."

"One of the great scientific classics of the 17th century, this brilliant exposition of the wave theory of light forms the claim to immortality of Christiaan Huygens."

"It was meant to be his great philosophical masterpiece, written for the world at large, but the rarity, unreadability, an inaccuracy of the only English translation (1661) considerably obscured it from view. Then, in 1953, the University of Chicago Press published its distinguished modern version: 'a splendid edition [which] provides the modern reader with the opportunity to understand, through the medium of Salusbury's vibrant Jacobean prose, the substance and significance of Galileo's scientific achievements, the power and reach of this mind and the passion and tragedy of his personal history.'"

Hardback with dustjacket, 129 pp.
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Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more